Monday night in Athens, a pair of Top 10 team in the Associated Press’ Class D boy’s basketball rankings met.

Yes, it was the opening game of the districts but sometimes that’s the luck of the draw.

No. 4 Climax-Scotts faced off with eighth-ranked Mendon on the neutral floor, with big crowds from both teams in attendance. Mendon fought like everyone expected them to, but in the end the Hornets fell 70-51 to the Panthers.

“My kids played hard tonight, they played their hearts out,” Mendon coach Dave Swanwick said. “We just ran into a team that made more shots tonight. They came out fired up and so did our kids. They just made baskets.”

Climax-Scotts coach Steve Critchlow said hard-nosed defense was crucial to his team’s play Monday.

“I thought our team defense was really good and that made a difference for us tonight,” he said. “We emphasized old-school man-to-man defense and we got after some loose balls tonight.”

As the game wore on, Climax-Scotts was able to dictate the style of play.

Mendon, just a few weeks removed from knocking off then No. 1 Climax-Scotts 51-50, wasn’t able to keep the Panthers off the boards. Andy Brueck out-worked most of the Panthers’ front line in that game and continued to work hard Monday night.

The game was a fast pace early on, with the Panthers knocking down some shots inside to take a 14-9 lead after one quarter of action.

Mendon brought the game to within a possession in the second quarter, but Climax-Scotts went on a run to end the first half and lead 33-19.

“You have to score with them, you can’t go four-or-five possessions without a basket,” Swanwick said of playing Climax-Scotts. “We had some good looks and momentum in a district game is big if you can hit some of those baskets, it keeps you right there.”

Climax was able to hit those buckets late in the second quarter and was able to take advantage of Mendon running a bit cold.

To open the third, Climax continued to feed big men Malachi Satterlee and Aaron Cook inside for buckets. The duo, both at 6-foot-8, were too much for Mendon inside as the game continued in the second half.

“They were getting the ball inside better than they did the first time we played them,” Swanwick said.

Climax held a 21-10 advantage in the fourth quarter, which built their lead to 54-29 with just eight minutes left in the contest.

Critchlow said his team needed to have more intensity tonight for his team to win. He said Mendon out-worked the Panthers in the first meeting this year.

Page 2 of 2 - “It was one of the most painful losses that I really loved,” he said of losing to Mendon in February. “The next day in practice we saw some film and we noticed how much Mendon was out-playing us and out-hustling us. That was a key for us tonight.”

Mendon had its highest scoring quarter in the fourth with 22 points as Zach Darmofal and Joe Gales were able to knock down shots. Yet, it wasn’t enough for the Hornets, who finished the season with an 18-3 record and tied the 1970 team for most wins in a regular season.

The Hornets lose just a single senior in Brueck, who finished the night with six points and three rebounds. Mendon was led in scoring by Darmofal’s 17 points, adding six rebounds and five assists while Gales chipped in with 15 points. Marcus Craft added seven points, Erik Batten tossed in three points, Parker Cupp had two and Jordan Medich connected on a free throw.

“I thought all of our guys played their hearts out and that’s all I can ask of them,” Swanwick said.

Climax was led by Satterlee’s 19 points and Cook’s 16.

In the other game Monday night, Colon topped Burr Oak 55-25.

“We came out flat tonight and you can’t do that against their 1-3-1 defense,” Burr Oak Dave Brackett said.

The Magi led 18-4 after a strong first quarter and held off a Burr Oak run in the second to lead 30-13 at halftime.

Colon’s highest scoring quarter was the third with 20 points while holding the Bobcats to just two points. The Magi led 50-15 heading into the final quarter.

Burr Oak was led by James Saylor with nine points and five rebounds while Christian Eckert have five points. Justin Mullins added four, Wendell Hughes had three points while both Cole Summey and Brian Saylor each had two points.

Individual scorers were not available at press time Monday night for Colon.

The Magi will play the host Athens Indians in the late game Wednesday.